BRISTOL, Tenn. – Front Row Motorsports has made its mark in “Thunder Valley” recently as the organization has won the last three Craftsman Truck Series races at the Tennessee short track.
Layne Riggs scored his second Bristol Motor Speedway victory in the last three events to secure his spot in the Round of 8, but the track swung back at Chandler Smith under the lights Thursday evening as the No. 38 Ford suffered an electrical issue during Stage 1.
The issue pinned Smith multiple laps down, and with a clean night from the field limiting the number of cautions, the Georgia native gained no ground after 250 laps, finishing 14 laps off the pace in 30th.
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“I’m not sure what the issue was honestly,” Smith said after the race. “Sounds like it was a sensor that just slowly unplugged itself, which is mind-boggling to me that we’re racing at this prestige of a level and can just have something just start wiggling its way out and completely ruin your day.”
Smith started the second Truck playoff race of 2025 inside the top 10 and found himself working his way toward the lead after teammate Riggs spun on the opening lap.
But as he closed inside the top five, Smith said his truck completely shut off.
“After that [Lap 1] caution, after probably about eight laps, I started running the top, and I was passing guys up top, got up to third or fourth and as I was passing somebody, it just cut out,” Smith said. “Just stopped, like wow. Just dead. I was like ‘maybe it’s fuel-pressure related’ because I was running the top and went to the bottom, kind of cleaned itself up, but with lapped traffic and stuff, forced me back to the top. Started doing it more and more, and then finally, it just was done.”
The opening round of the postseason has been nothing short of a nightmare for Smith and the No. 38 crew.
Smith entered the seven-race playoffs as the third seed with a 16-point buffer to the cutline. However, it took just 14 laps two weeks ago at Darlington Raceway for the advantage to disappear as the No. 38 driver slammed the wall, bringing a swift end to his day at the “Lady in Black.”
He entered Bristol just two points below the cutline, but a second consecutive minimum points day for Smith pins him 24 points below the cutline with an elimination race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway looming next Saturday (Noon ET, FS1, NASCAR Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) as the Truck Series returns to the “Magic Mile” for the first time since 2017.
“Gut-wrenching,” Smith lamented. “We had the fastest truck here tonight. Really, really happy that Layne won, though. That’s three in a row here for FRM. Now we’re in a must-win situation, I’m pretty sure, going to New Hampshire. It honestly comes all the way back to making a bonehead move at Darlington that put us in this position. Who knows where we would be points-wise depending on how Darlington went and not stuffing it in the fence?
“But nevertheless, we’re gonna go and do what we were gonna do tonight, and that’s kick their ass.”